Tyrannosaurus (Wild Safari by Safari Ltd. – 2006 sculpt)

This 2006 offering from Safari’s Wild Safari range of dinosaurs is a lovely (if inaccurate) replica of every child’s favourite dinosaur, the famed villain of almost every dinosaur movie available, Tyrannosaurus rex.

The first things most dinosaur enthusiasts will notice are the pyramidal crests above the eyes, this is quite a common feature among tyrannosaur replicas and is something that most collectors can accept. However, it is plainly noticeable that on this guy the crests actually peak too far behind the eyes. After observing this it becomes noticeable that the entire skull is rather inaccurate, with the top jaw being the wrong shape and the tip of the lower jaw being too rounded.

The rest is the body is surprisingly accurate, its only downsides being that it is in a much hated tripod pose and the arms are much too long.

Detail is a feature this little one excels in, especially its feet which are presented in all their bird-like glory. The rest of the body is covered in various lines and criss crosses that, while adding a very reptilian pattern to the skin, also give a sense of the musculature of this animal. This, coupled with a nice paint job consisting of a range of greens and browns, results in a rather nice figure despite the inaccurate skull. Once again Safari have managed to hit the nail on the head in terms of providing a low priced toy for kids that doubles as a (for the most part) highly accurate replica for the serious collector. [I disagree – Contrarian Ed]